Life After Racing
So when the moment of decision does come, what do some of these drivers want to do with their free time?
"I'd love to be an assistant Little League coach," Rudd says. "Landon (his son) is also into roller hockey. I don't want to be the coach; I want to be the assistant. I don't want to hear all the headaches and the griping from the parents. I want to be the assistant. That's what I want to do when I get out."
Bill Elliott would love to spend more time at home. He admits he doesn't enjoy the crowds, the hassles, the travel and the outside distractions that come with being a race car driver, but the 46-year-old loves the feeling of being behind the wheel, which is why he continues to deal with the other things.
"Instead of 100 fans in the garage area, we have 10,000," Elliott says. "The demands on our time are much greater. We are running more races during the year and, with the demands from the sponsor going up, it's a vicious cycle.
"Parts of this are not fun, but I still enjoy driving the race car. One has to outweigh the other. There are certain parts of the politics of the game that I don't like. All in all, the gains outweigh the negatives.
"Right now, I feel pretty comfortable where I'm at. I enjoy driving for Ray Evernham. I have another two years on my deal with him with another two-year option after that. I'll determine next year what I want to do after that. I can determine a year at a time what I want to do."
Elliott remembers when he started racing in 1976, it was a much simpler sport.
"In the 1970s, I walked down to the Monroe truck, got me a handful of Monroe shocks and that is what I put on the race cars," Elliott says. "Now, you have to have a shock specialist and a spring specialist. The evolution of the sport has changed so much. Physically it is harder on the driver today."
When Elliott decides he's had enough as a driver, Evernham would like to keep Elliott on his team as a consultant, a driving mentor similar to the role Rick Mears has with Penske Racing's Indy car team.
"I'd like to stay on as a consultant," Elliott says. "Ray Evernham, to this point, has been great to drive for. I still enjoy it. Like I told Ray not too long ago, if I can contribute to the team and still feel like I can do a pretty decent job on the racetrack, I would still like to do it. But when I become a negative to the race team, get me out of here."
Elliott recalls a much simpler sport when he started racing in 1976.
"I haven't seen anybody drive these race cars forever," Elliott says. "There comes a point where you say, the younger generation has come in; here it is; it's time for me to take the backseat and head on down the road. I don't care what it is in life, whether you are playing in a rock 'n' roll band or you are out there driving a race car, or playing a professional sport. Eventually, you say it's time to go on."